Sydney Leake

Sydney Anne Leake passed away peacefully on March 19, 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was born on October 1, 1925, in LaPorte, Indiana. After graduating from the small school in Springfield Township, she attended school at Chadron State in Nebraska and then Purdue University, graduating in 1945 with degrees in Home Economics and Chemistry. She worked as a chemist at Lever Brothers in Chicago after her graduation. While at Purdue she met Lewis Albert Leake and married him in Salt Lake City that same year during a visit with his mother.

During the course of their married lives they lived in W. Lafayette, Indiana; Fort Worth, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah; Oxnard and Camarillo, California; Arlington, Massachusetts; Dunn Loring, Virginia; Littleton and Parker, Colorado; and Evanston, Wyoming in addition to serving in many places on their many missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She often said she had an itching foot, ready to move on to a new exciting adventure.

While Sydney might have been small in stature, she was large in her influence, example, and energy. She was a wise, caring and selfless wife and mother. She was the always happy dynamo that really kept things going in the family, the true force to be reckoned with. She enjoyed sewing and tailoring clothing for her family, furniture restoration to beautify her home, reading, family history research and serving others and the Lord. She had a ready wit, and loved stimulating conversation. Always kind and gracious, she was beloved by her family and friends. In the last year of her life she was also beloved by those who so carefully and lovingly served her at Emeritus in Salt Lake City.

She is survived by her sister, Mary Russell, her seven children, John (Pat) Leake, Mary (Tom) Smith, Janet (Doug) Ricks, Bob (Becky) Leake, Randalin (Allen) Hilton, David (Jeanne) Leake, and Tom (Lisa) Leake. She also leaves thirty-three grandchildren and forty-two great-grandchildren.

While we are sad to see her go, she was looking forward to a reunion with her family who had already passed on to the realms above. Among the loved ones who were there to greet her at her passing would have been her dear husband, Lew, her newborn son, Richard, lost so long ago, her mother and father, two brothers and a sister.

Funeral services will be held in St. George, Utah on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 11:00 AM at the Brigham Road Chapel, 1130 East Brigham Road. A visitation will be held 9:30 to 10:45 AM prior to services. Interment will follow at Tonaquint Cemetery, 1777 S Dixie Dr, St George.